From
the Editor: Peggy Elliott is second vice president of the National Federation
of the Blind and a former member of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board (Access Board). Here is her commentary on recent activities
by an employee of the board:

Monitor
readers will remember that the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board (Access Board) conducted hearings last October in Portland,
Oregon, on proposed changes to its regulations that would compel universal installation
of audible pedestrian signals and detectable warnings at essentially all intersections
at an astronomical and as‑yet‑uncomputed cost to local governments.
Sensibly enough, federal agencies normally complete the final rule‑making
process as defined in federal law before beginning to train the people to be
regulated by those rules on compliance with them.

Put
another way, the changes supported by Ms. Lois Thibault, director of research
for the Access Board, and nowhere required by federal law, are being sold to
the public under false colors. Not only is there no requirement for installation;
no rule has yet been formally proposed that would mandate such installation.
Last year's hearing concerned a report of an advisory committee of citizens
whose recommendations have not yet been turned into proposed regulations. But
the proposals suit Ms. Thibault's low opinion of blind pedestrians, people in
her view who need her kind and sighted help as well as a vast expenditure of
tax dollars to get around the country safely. Federationists know Ms. Thibault's
position ignores the overwhelming evidence that blind people get around safely
every day, which makes these changes to federal law unnecessary and probably
illegal.

Under
her guidance the Access Board has apparently decided not to bother with the
niceties of federal procedure. On April 16, 2003, Ms. Thibault provided three
hours of training to more than fifty employees of Montgomery County, Maryland,
on compliance with the proposed changes which will, Ms. Thibault devoutly hopes,
eventually become the final rules. To put the matter simply, such training sessions
jump the gun and smack of deception. Without actually breaking the law, conducting
training sessions on proposed changes certainly violates federal procedures.

Could
it be that the Access Board is so unsure of public acceptance of its regulations
that it has decided to conduct brief training courses around the country in
an effort to convince people that the proposed changes are widely accepted and
required by law in order to lend credibility to its final rules, thus shaping
the reactions of the local government entities that will have to comply with
them? This is particularly unfair to local governmental officials, who typically
just want to know what's required. As they usually put it: Don't explain why;
just tell us what to do, and we'll do it. Get it down in black and white, in
measurements and standards, and we'll build it that way. Ms. Thibault's approach
is apparently to disguise her personal opinions as federal law and hope no one
asks too many questions. Local governmental officials aren't likely to; they
just want the specs, which Ms. Thibault with her prestigious-sounding federal
title is seemingly providing.

Federationists
will be interested to know that, as part of this training, Ms. Thibault devotes
time to attacking and attempting to refute the position of the National Federation
of the Blind on the placement of audible pedestrian signals and detectable warnings.
One is left to conclude either that Ms. Thibault feels threatened by the NFB's
position or that our arguments have such innate sense and attractiveness to
the public that getting a head start on imbedding her wishes in the final rules
by attacking us is her only recourse.

One
can also hope that Access Board members, Ms. Thibault's actual bosses, will
put a stop to her running around the country, pretending her opinions are federal
law. Unfortunately the Access Board does not have a strong record of controlling
Ms. Thibault. This leads to yet another question: why? The blind and local governments
everywhere are apparently about to be hoodwinked and our rights as citizens
to have a voice in our government trampled by one determined, wrongheaded federal
employee. It's democracy backwards--federal employees imposing their opinions
on the entire country by guile and grit. And it's wrong!